Coleman Hughes is an American writer and anti-transgender activist.
Background
Coleman Cruz Hughes was born February 25, 1996 and grew up in Montclair, New Jersey. Hughes earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 2020.
Like Glenn Loury, Thomas Chatterton Williams, and John McWhorter, Hughes has gained a reputation for criticizing progressive views and policies around race.
Razib Khan is a Bangladeshi-American writer and anti-transgender activist. Khan comes to anti-trans “sex science” via “race science” and is best known for laundering extremist views about race into mainstream media.
Khan hopes to usher in the “second age of eugenics” through genetic screening and manipulation to increase “good” traits and eliminate “bad” traits. Many of Khan’s like-minded colleagues consider being trans and gender diverse to be undesirable traits to be eliminated from the gene pool.
Newamul K. “Razib” Khan was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1977. Khan’s family moved to the US in 1982. Khan lived in upstate New York as a child before the family moved to Oregon.
Khan earned two bachelor’s degrees from University of Oregon in 2000 and 2006. While there, Khan wrote a blog called Razib’s Rants, which later became Gene Expression. Following graduate work at UC Davis, Khan was a software engineer before receiving money from Ron Unz to write about hereditarian and eugenic topics.
Cussins, Jessica (June 26, 2014). Quantified and Analyzed, Before the First Breath. Center for Genetics and Society https://www.geneticsandsociety.org/biopolitical-times/quantified-and-analyzed-first-breath
Khan, Razib (June 18, 2008). Curing the Gay.Unz Review https://www.unz.com/gnxp/curing-the-gay/
John Higgon is a British psychologist and anti-transgender activist. Higgon is supportive of the disputed diagnosis “rapid onset gender dysphoria” and supports “gender exploratory therapy,” a form of non-affirming care for trans youth. Higgon is involved with SPLC-designated hate group Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM), which led to the creation of conversion therapy lobby group Genspect.
Background
Higgon is a psychologist with Dumfries & Galloway Health & Social Care. Much of Higgon’s work is with older patients.
Anti-transgender activism
Higgon was one of several signatories who praised the Cass Review that finally closed the UK’s inefficient Tavistock youth gender clinic and opened the door for decentralized care for gender diverse youth. Higgon and friends celebrated the closure for different reasons in a response. Co-signers were:
Dr Maja Bowen [aka “Isidora Sanger”/”la scapigliata”
Dr Tessa Katz, GP
Dr Ellen Wright, GP
Higgon syas:
We think the current guidelines effectively prohibit psychologists from taking a questioning approach and applying ethical practice in these situations. The absence of a robust evidence base supporting psychological and medical intervention is a concern in this rapidly growing population, leaving significant gaps in our understanding of many relevant issues. The disproportionate increase in presentations of females to services, the phenomenon of so-called Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria, the voices of individuals who have desisted or detransitioned, and the experiences of those for whom existing treatments have been of value must all be addressed in the search for quality research informing best-evidence practice. Such research can only be conducted in an environment that is open to discussion in a respectful and professionally inquisitive manner.
Higgon et al (03 August 2022). Time for honest reflection, not defence. The British Psychological Society https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/time-honest-reflection-not-defence
Higgon et al (03 September 2020). Freedom of expression around diversity guidelines. The British Psychological Society https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/freedom-expression-around-diversity-guidelines
David Bell, Lucy Griffin, Seth Bhunoo, Sallie Baxendale, Az Hakeem, Louise irvine, John Higgon, Madeleine Ni Dhalaigh, Robin Ion, Bob Withers, David Pilgrim, Maja Bowen, Tessa Katz, Ellen Wright (2022). Comment: Review of gender identity services for children and young people. BMJ 2022; 376 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.o629 (Published 10 March 2022)Cite this as: BMJ 2022;376:o629
Resources
Dumfries and Galloway Health and Social Care (dghscp.co.uk)
Jennifer Block is an American writer and anti-transgender activist. Block is a key historical figure in 21st-century media attacks on trans healthcare.
Block is an embedded reporter with anti-trans hate groups like Genspect, attending their events and laundering their extremist views into mainstream media, most notably into The BMJbefore the journal’s owner, the British Medical Association, shut Block down.
Overview
Block believes that US medical consensus about care for trans and gender diverse youth is a scandal in the making. As similar bigots in media did in the late 1970s, Block keeps rewriting the same FUD propaganda piece and selling it to different outlets. The 1979 backlash eliminated healthcare options for many trans people that took four decades to reverse, and Block is at the forefront of this new backlash against our children.
Block’s work focuses on several anti-transgender positions:
disease models of gender diversity, especially “gender dysphoria”
supporting strict gatekeeping of trans healthcare via centralized government control, developed under nationalized heath systems (so-called âgender clinicsâ) in the 20th century
the “rapid onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD) disease model: “More adolescents with no history of gender dysphoriaâpredominantly birth registered femalesâare presenting at gender clinics.”
disproportionately amplifying outliers and bad outcomes: Andrew Martinez (suicide) and Chloe Cole (ex-trans movement)
Jennifer Lori “Jen” Block was born on November 22, 1976 to surgeon Leonard Block (born 1948) and Roberta Block (born 1947). Block has two siblings. Block’s parents divorced, which may explain Block’s animosity toward the medical establishment.
Block earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Boston University in 1998. Block held editorial roles at Ms. magazine, Plenty, Our Bodies, Ourselves, and The OpEd Project.
Block is author of Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care (2007) and Everything Below the Waist: Why Health Care Needs a Feminist Revolution (2019).
“Mommy bloggers” and their fans are especially susceptible to anti-transgender radicalization and social contagion. Block thanks fellow anti-trans extremist Lisa Selin Davis in the acknowledgements for Pushed.
BMJ article series, 2023â
In 2023, Block was commissioned to write an investigative piece for The BMJ. The resulting piece was deeply slanted toward the views of conservative clinicians and anti-transgender activists.
An accompanying video featured conservative therapists Laura Edwards-Leeper and Erica Anderson, and gender-affirming endocrinologist Joshua Safer.
In 2025, Block revealed that The BMJ had commissioned more work, but the British Medical Association killed it following negative response to Block’s 2023 article and video.
Supporters
Anti-trans activist Helen Joycesaid of Block’s article: “Fantastic article, and so important that it appears in BMJ.” Anti-trans organization Rethink Identity Medicine Ethics also liked the piece.
It was also liked and shared by several of Block’s peers, including Sean CW Korsgaard, Liz Highleyman, Mark Tighe, Sonia Gallego, Michael Marshall (@m_c_marshall), Kevin Bass, Vinay Prassad, Dr. Dina McMillan, Milli Hill, Julia Mason, Moti Gorin, Charlotte Schubert, and Benjamin Ryan.
The staff at The BMJ issued a statement:
The BMJ believes in investigative journalism as a force for change. Over the past decade, our investigative journalism has unearthed research fraud and misconduct, prompted improvements in the transparency of clinical research, led to changes in guidelines and clinical practice, and triggered parliamentary inquiries.
High quality investigative journalism requires time to research, gather evidence, and ask questions. Developing in-depth stories is expensive, and we actively seek external funding to help expand our efforts. Current no-strings funding comes from Arnold Ventures and William McGuire. Past supporters include the European Commission and Open Society Foundations. In 2022, we hope to expand our impact through crowdfunding. If you would like to support us, please contact Head of Journalism Rebecca Coombes.
We retain editorial independenceâthe freedom of editors to make decisions without interference from any fundersâfor all content that is produced and published; all decisions are taken strictly within the editorial structures of the journal.
The Association of LGBTQ+ Doctors & Dentists (GLADD), Pride in Surgery Forum, and the British Medical Association all published criticisms of the piece.
British Medical Association deputy council chair Emma Runswick said:
We have recently written to the BMJ, which is editorially independent, to challenge its article âGender dysphoria in young people is risingâand so is professional disagreementâ and express our concern, that alongside criticisms made by LGTBQ+ organisations such as GLADD and neurodivergent doctors, in our view, it lacks equality, diversity and inclusion awareness and patient voice. That the article has been used by transphobic lobby groups around the world is of particular concern to us.
2023 Twitter responses
Block was very unhappy about being called out for bias, posting a number of times on Twitter about this alleged mistreatment, suggesting any criticism is an attack on journalism as an institution.
February 27
Since my @bmj_latest piece on care for gender dysphoria in minors, some are curious about my background. I’ve been reporting on contested areas of medicine for 20 years. I wrote a book about the gap between evidence and routine practice in maternity care (still quite large!).
Politicization gets people no closer to evidence-based maternity care either, and I’d argue it hampered work toward expanding rights and reducing maternal mortality. In states that have advanced birth justice, it’s the result of red/blue folks accepting they have a common goal.
I see dismissing any clinician or researcher who has concerns about the best treatment for kids/adolescents in the face of inconclusive evidence as “anti-trans” as an attempt to silence important conversation and debate. I hope my piece is contributing.
FWIW, the organizer of the AAP rally I spoke with, who directed me to video footage, is a lifelong coastal democrat. You can’t just smear every person with concerns RE treatments, or the concerns themselves, as “anti-trans.” At least I’m not going to be baited into that tautology
TLDR: Dear reporters, don’t report on transgender medicine. Don’t be curious about detransition or medical disagreement. Label the above anti-trans. Quote children of all ages rather than research. Cover “trans joy rather than the ‘difficult’ questions.”
March 5 [referring to anti-trans media figure Michael Knowles saying transgenderism must be eliminated.
THIS is anti-trans–and violent and inhumane. Reporting on disagreement and unknowns in medical practice for children with gender dysphoria is not. Both the trans community and journos can condemn such rhetoric and support open exchange of info & dialogue to support Rx decisions
This is in response to an opinion piece by trans journalist Katelyn Burns.
[referring to https://nbcuacademy.com/trans-kids-journalism/#.ZAIfHq868m8.twitter]
OK, this was a snarky tweet. But it’s a serious issue. A certain corner of journalism is conflating necessary, important reporting on the issue of medical treatment for kids with transphobia. I read this piece as saying “look over here, don’t look over there.” That’s advocacy.
Maybe @transscribe is not familiar with my recent piece looking into the evidence base for treatments like puberty blockers and hormones in minors. She can correct me if I’m wrong, but I read her how-to as discouraging such reporting.
“A story about trans health care should make clear all the facts… They should include that nearly every major medical association supports the current protocol of gender-affirming care for minors.” Well, as I report, consensus does not equal evidence-based practice.
Reviews in Sweden, Finland, and now UK have made clear the uncertainties and potential for harm, and those countries are pulling back on medicalization and focusing instead on mental health and social support. They are not denying anyone’s existence. It’s not political there.
For years, these labels of “anti-trans” “transphobe” and accusations of genocide have scared journalists who are obviously not those things from pursuing reasonable questions about benefit v. harm of medical treatment. This is regressive and I hope we’re moving past it.
Author Katelyn Burns replied “but you obscured the biases of the sources your piece depended upon. that’s advocacy.”
You haven’t pointed to any such thing. Everyone is ID’d with their relationship to professional orgs. The research methodologists who evaluated the guidelines/evidence base have no history with this issue whatsoever. Just hurling the label of “anti-trans” doesn’t make it so.
Free Press founder Bari Weiss is known for sustained attacks on trans rights. Weiss paid Block to continue these attacks by attacking Planned Parenthood.
In 2024, Block employed the same rhetoric used in anti-abortion regret propaganda in a profile of Cristina Hineman, an ex-trans activist who reports regret about making a gender transition as a consenting adult. Block then approvingly describes the legal assault on Planned Parenthood initiated by Hineman. Block then tells a similar story about “Anna,” likely the plaintiff in a similar Jane Doe lawsuit. Throughout the piece, Block denigrates trans-supportive physicians and promotes anti-trans gatekeepers like Riittakerttu Kaltiala.
2025 short film
In July 2025, Block started a Substack titled Unpopular Science. Its first post was a short propaganda piece produced with Eric S. Vaughan titled “The Liberal Case for Rethinking Gender Medicine.” Block notes:
“The genesis for this film was the investigative feature I wrote for The BMJ, which came out in February 2023. My editors committed serious resources toward producing a high-quality video component. But my print piece drew the ire of the British Medical Association, which owns the journal, and ultimately the video and follow-up reporting were killed.”
Block J (October 2024). Dispute arises over World Professional Association for Transgender Healthâs involvement in WHOâs trans health guideline. BMJ, q2227. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q2227
Block J (August 2023). US paediatric leaders back gender affirming approach while also ordering evidence review. BMJ, p1877. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p1877
Block, Jennifer (March 6, 2023). Raft of US state laws restrict access to treatments for gender dysphoria. BMJ 2023; 380 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p533
Block, Jennifer (February 23, 2023). Gender dysphoria in young people is risingâand so is professional disagreement. BMJ 2023; 380 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p382
“her article contains several misleading statements and, crucially, fails to include the perspective of individuals from the trans and gender diverse (TGD) community”
“the mention of neurodivergence when speaking about transgender people is to imply that there is less capacity for making good choices about our bodies, evaluating risks and benefits.”
“Samira Khan,” Matthew Sellen, and Bethan Carey Jones [neurodivergent health professionals] (16 March 2023). Diversity in gender identity and neurotypes. https://www.bmj.com/content/380/bmj.p382/rr-8
Marci Bowers is an American gynecologist, surgeon, media personality, and activist. Bowers is one of the transgender community’s most notable surgeons.
Background
Marci Lee Bowers was born January 18, 1958 in Wisconsin.
After earning a bachelor’s degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1980, Bowers earned a medical degree from University of Minnesota Medical School in 1986. Bowers completed an OB/GYN residency at the University of Washington in 1990, then worked at Swedish Medical Center. Bowers has licensure in Washington, California, New York, and Colorado.
Bowers was chosen by Stanley Biber to take over Biber’s Colorado practice in 2003. In 2010, Bowers relocated to Burlingame, California.
Bowers has completed many medical missions to Africa to make surgical revisions to the organs of women subjected to traditional genital cutting. Bowers is an elected board member of WPATH and served as president from 2022 to 2024, the first trans woman to hold the position. Bowesrs was the first woman with trans history to serve a full term on the GLAAD board of directors in 2017. Bowers also served on the board of directors for the Transgender Law Center.
Bowers supplied the following list of firsts:
First woman to perform gender affirming vaginoplasty (2003)
First woman with trans history to perform gender affirming vaginoplasty (2003)
First surgeon to perform simple metoidioplasty (2004)
First surgeon to perform Ring Metoidioplasty in the US [Takamatsu] (2007)
First mentee of Dr Pierre Foldes (2007)
First doctor to deliver 2,000 babies and create 2,000 vaginas
First surgeon in North America to perform Clitoral Restoration Surgery (2009)
First surgeon in US to accept commercial insurance (2009)
Prototype designer of the Soulsource vaginal dilators
First surgeon to use tunica vaginalis tissue in vaginoplasty (2020)
First surgeon to perform monsplasty
Media appearances
Bowers has appeared frequently in the media, including TransGeneration, Sex Change Hospital, Trinidad, The Tyra Banks Show, I Am Cait, and I Am Jazz.
2021 60 Minutes interview
Bowers was a source for a 60 Minutes piece on “detransition” by Lesley Stahl, Alexandra Poolos, and Collette Richards titled “Transgender Healthcare” on May 23, 2021. That report was described by GLAAD thus:
Tonight 60 Minutes / Lesley Stahl aired a shameful segment fearmongering about trans youth. Parents of trans youth could walk away with the false belief that young people are being rushed into medical transition. That is simply untrue. As the piece noted, every major medical association supports affirming, age-appropriate care for trans youth and the guidelines for that care are safe and well-established. And yet, the majority of the story was devoted to âraising concernsâ about youth accessing that care. [60 Minutes] heard concerns from several trans leaders and, after spending months on the segment, they delivered a piece which still promulgates the same anti-trans dog whistles that we hear from anti-LGBTQ activists and in state legislatures like Arkansas.
Bowers’ appearance has been cited in reporting critical of the transgender rights movement, including Fox News, The Daily Signal, and The Federalist.
2021 Abigail Shrier interview
In October 2021, Bowers and USPATH officer Erica Anderson chose to express their concerns about healthcare for gender diverse minors to Abigail Shrier, one of the most prominent anti-transgender activists.
When asked whether children in the early stages of puberty should be put on blockers, Bowers said: âIâm not a fan.â
When I asked Bowers if she still thought puberty blockers were a good idea, from a surgical perspective, she said: âThis is typical of medicine. We zig and then we zag, and I think maybe we zigged a little too far to the left in some cases.â She added âI think there was naivete on the part of pediatric endocrinologists who were proponents of early [puberty] blockade thinking that just this magic can happen, that surgeons can do anything.â
I asked Bowers whether she believed WPATH had been welcoming to a wide variety of doctorsâ viewpoints â including those concerned about risks, skeptical of puberty blockers, and maybe even critical of some of the surgical procedures?
âThere are definitely people who are trying to keep out anyone who doesnât absolutely buy the party line that everything should be affirming, and that thereâs no room for dissent,â Bowers said. âI think thatâs a mistake.â
The problem for kids whose puberty has been blocked early isnât just a lack of tissue but of sexual development. Puberty not only stimulates growth of sex organs. It also endows them with erotic potential. âIf youâve never had an orgasm pre-surgery, and then your puberty’s blocked, it’s very difficult to achieve that afterwards,â Bowers said. âI consider that a big problem, actually. It’s kind of an overlooked problem that in our âinformed consentâ of children undergoing puberty blockers, weâve in some respects overlooked that a little bit.â
Nor is this a problem that can be corrected surgically. Bowers can build a labia, a vaginal canal and a clitoris, and the results look impressive. But, she said, if the kids are âorgasmically naiveâ because of puberty blockade, âthe clitoris down there might as well be a fingertip and brings them no particular joy and, therefore, theyâre not able to be responsive as a lover. And so how does that affect their long-term happiness?â
Shrier called the article “probably the most important piece of my career thus far.” Bowers’ views were once again widely reported in the conservative press, including the Daily Mail, the Christian Post, TheFederalist, and the Patriot Post.
In response to Bowers’ ill-informed decision, USPATH and WPATH released a joint statement:
The United States Professional Association for Transgender Health (USPATH) and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) stand behind the appropriate care of transgender and gender diverse youth, which includes, when indicated, the use of “puberty blockers” such as gonadotropin releasing hormone analogs and other medications to delay puberty, and, when indicated, the use of gender-affirming hormones such as estrogen or testosterone. Guidelines for the assessment of transgender and gender diverse youth, as well as for the use of pubertal delay and gender affirming hormone medications have been published by reputable professional bodies, including the Endocrine Society, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, and the American Psychiatric Association.
USPATH and WPATH support scientific discussions on the use of pubertal delay and hormone therapy for transgender and gender diverse youth. We believe that such discussions should occur among experts and stakeholders in this area, based on scientific evidence, and in fora such as peer-reviewed journals or scientific conferences, and among colleagues and experts in the assessment and care of transgender and gender diverse youth. USPATH and WPATH oppose the use of the lay press, either impartial or of any political slant or viewpoint, as a forum for the scientific debate of these issues, or the politicization of these issues in any way. Furthermore, individual decisions about gender affirming interventions and treatments for transgender and gender diverse youth should be made only among the patient, their parent(s) or guardian(s), their medical and mental health provider(s), and any other identified stakeholders on a case-by-case basis, and opposes any attempts to dictate or restrict, by statute, judiciary, or otherwise, access to such treatment when recommended according to accepted standards and guidelines.
Anderson resigned from USPATH and WPATH, and Bowers posted a letter about the Shrier interview online in November 2021:
I remain disappointed by the tone and intent of the article. My comments were taken out of context and used to cast doubt upon trans care, particularly the use of puberty blockers. Worse, Jazz Jennings was disrespectfully and erroneously portrayed as a puberty blockade failure, based solely upon her television portrayal.
[…] What I hope for, most of all, is that my out-of-context comments will not be excerpted to weaponize ongoing attacks upon transgender persons.
In 2023, the New York Times published a piece by Bowers critical of the wave of anti-transgender legislation in America. Bowers touched on transgender youth medicine, low rates of regret and “detransition,” the history of WPATH and trans healthcare, then urged lawmakers not to interfere in medical decisions made by doctors with their patients.
To be sure, worthwhile questions about how best to address gender diversity, adolescent mental health and teensâ expectations about gender remain. But answers to them will not be found in legislation thatwillharm â not protect â children, families and their health care providers. We must ask ourselves: Why are legislators and politicians making medical decisions for patients and families instead of doctors?
[…]
Anti-treatment bills will not protect children, and they will not help the medical community provide better care for patients in need. We should instead take anti-transgender legislation for what it is: thinly veiled cruelty to a specific minority population of the country. These bills are symptoms of a larger problem, where belittlement and bullying are reminders of what many trans people endure as children, teenagers and young adults.
References
WPATH (October 12, 2021). Joint Letter from USPATH and WPATH. (PDF) https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/Public%20Policies/2021/Joint%20WPATH%20USPATH%20Letter%20Dated%20Oct%2012%202021.pdf
Winters, Kelley (October 9, 2021). Transgender Affirmation in Retrograde. Trans Policy Reform. https://transpolicyreform.wordpress.com/2021/10/09/transgender-affirmation-in-retrograde/
Bowers, Marci (November 2021). Dear colleagues, clients and friends. Marci L. Bowers, M.D. https://marcibowers.com/transfem/dear-colleagues-clients-and-friends/
Doo FX, Khorsandi A, Avanessian B, Bowers M, Somwaru AS (2019). Gender Affirmation Surgery: A Primer on Imaging Correlates for the Radiologist. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2019 Dec;213(6):1194-1203. https://doi.org/10.2214/AJR.19.21686
Kvach EJ, Hyer JS, Carey JC, Bowers M (2019). Testicular Seminoma in a Transgender Woman: A Case Report. LGBT Health. 2019 Jan;6(1):40-42. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2018.0173
Atkinson HG, Bowers M, Mishori R, Ottenheimer D (2017). Comments on “Female Genital Mutilation Reconstruction: A Preliminary Report”. Aesthet Surg J. 2017 Oct 1;37(9):NP111-NP112. https://doi.org/10.1093/asj/sjx096
Gaither TW, Awad MA, Osterberg EC, Romero A, Bowers ML, Breyer BN (2017). Impact of Sexual Orientation Identity on Medical Morbidities in Male-to-Female Transgender Patients. LGBT Health. 2017 Feb;4(1):11-16. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2016.0097
Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.
Anne WĂŠhre is a Norwegian pediatrician involved in conservative clinical practices and anti-transgender activism. WĂŠhre is a strong proponent of psychological gatekeeping for trans health services, especially for minors.
Background
WĂŠhre earned a medical degree from University of Oslo (UiO) in 2000. WĂŠhre has been affiliated with Oslo University Hospital since 2006.
WĂŠhre is a prominent critic of Norway’s national professional guidelines for gender incongruence published in 2020 by Helsedirektoratet [The Norwegian Directorate for Health].
Nymoen, Ole Christian (April 24, 2025). Stor usikkerhet om kjĂžnnsbehandling for mindreĂ„rige: â Blir stemplet som transfob [Great uncertainty about gender treatment for minors: â Being labeled as transphobic]. Nettavisen https://www.nettavisen.no/nyheter/stor-usikkerhet-om-kjonnsbehandling-for-mindrearige-blir-stemplet-som-transfob/s/5-95-1777762
Enger, Cecilie (September 1, 2023). Jeg har vel ikke egentlig bearbeidet hvor tungt det har vĂŠrt Ă„ stĂ„ i denne stormen [â I guess I haven’t really processed how hard it has been to stand in this storm. Being critical of the treatment given to transsexuals in Norway has come at a high price for consultant Anne WĂŠhre]. Dagens NĂŠringsliv https://www.dn.no/magasinet/portrettet/transpersoner/rikshospitalet/kjonn/-jeg-har-vel-ikke-egentlig-bearbeidet-hvor-tungt-det-har-vart-a-sta-i-denne-stormen/2-1-1508228
Staff report (October 13, 2022). Why do so many teenaged girls ask for gender reassignment? CNE [Christian News Europe] https://cne.news/artikel/1843-why-do-so-many-teenaged-girls-ask-for-gender-reassignment
Pisani Sundhagen, H., WĂŠhre, A., TĂžnseth, K. A., & Fauske, L. (2025). Exploring experiences of metoidioplasty: a qualitative study. International Journal of Transgender Health, 1â14. https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2025.2536500
Jessen, Reidar Schei; WĂŠhre, Anne; David, Linda W.; StĂ€nicke, Line Indrevoll & StĂ€nicke, Erik (2025). âIt was actually my family and friends who noticed that my voice changedâ: An interview study on the experiences of transgender and non-binary youth and young adults three years into medical treatment. International Journal of Transgender Healthhttps://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2025.2478498
Gulseth, E., Urdal, A., Andersen, M. H., Falk, R. S., Aksnes, G., Emblem, R., Diseth, T., & WĂŠhre, A. (2025). Mental health and health-related quality of life in adolescents surgically treated for hypospadias in childhood. Journal of Pediatric Urology, 21(1), 59â70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpurol.2024.09.031 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/116372
Jessen, Reidar Schei; WÊhre, Anne; David, Linda W.; StÀnicke, Line Indrevoll & StÀnicke, Erik (2025). Finding Oneself in the Gazes of Others: An Exploration of Subjective Experiences of Gender Among Young Binary Transgender Men. Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 26(1), p. 52 69. https://doi.org/10.1080/15240657.2025.2453288
Nyquist, Cecilie Bjertness; Torgersen, Leila; David, Linda W.; Diseth, Trond Haaken; Gulbrandsen, Kjersti & WĂŠhre, Anne (2024). Treatment trajectories among children and adolescents referred to the Norwegian National Center for Gender Incongruence. Acta Paediatrica, 114(5), 1006â1014. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.17530 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/115920
David, L. W., Stenberg, N., Diseth, T. H., Helverschou, S. B., Nyquist, C. B., Ăien, R. A., & Waehre, A. (2023). Autistic Characteristics in a Nationally Representative Clinical Sample of Adolescents Seeking Medical Gender-Affirming Treatment in Norway. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 55(1), 147â157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-023-06181-6
Nyquist, C. B., Torgersen, L., David, L. W., Diseth, T. H., Magnus, P., Biele, G. P. E., & Waehre, A. (2024). Population-adjusted numbers, demographics and mental health among children and adolescents referred to the Norwegian National Center for Gender Incongruence over two decades. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 34(2), 647â657. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-024-02508-5 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/114064
MediÄ, L. M., Fauske, L., Sigurdardottir, S., Billaud Feragen, K. J., & Waehre, A. (2024). Differences of sex development and surgical decisions: focus group interviews with health care professionals in Norway. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/21642850.2024.2371134 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/117942
Sundhagen, H. P., Opheim, A. B., WĂŠhre, A., Oliver, N. K., & TĂžnseth, K. A. (2023). Chest Wall Contouring in Transgender Men: A 20-Year Experience from a National Center. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery – Global Open, 11(4), e4952. https://doi.org/10.1097/gox.0000000000004952 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/110528
David, L. W., Stenberg, N., Diseth, T. H., Helverschou, S. B., Nyquist, C. B., Ăien, R. A., & Waehre, A. (2023). Autistic Characteristics in a Nationally Representative Clinical Sample of Adolescents Seeking Medical Gender-Affirming Treatment in Norway. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 55(1), 147â157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-023-06181-6 Â Full text https://hdl.handle.net/10037/32371
MediÄ, L. M., Sigurdardottir, S., Fauske, L., & Waehre, A. (2023). Understanding sexual health concerns among adolescents and young adults with differences of sex development: a qualitative study. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2023.2204635 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/109429
Gulseth, E., Urdal, A., Andersen, M. H., Falk, R. S., Aksnes, G., Emblem, R., & WÊhre, A. (2023). Sexual well-being and penile appearance in adolescents operated for distal hypospadias in childhood. Journal of Pediatric Urology, 19(3), 293.e1-293.e8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpurol.2023.03.001 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/106930
Waehre, A., Heggeli, C., Hald, K., Myhre, A. G., & Diseth, T. (2022). A 15â20-year follow-up of mental health, psychosocial functioning and quality of life in a single center sample of individuals with differences in sex development. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 10(1), 837â854. https://doi.org/10.1080/21642850.2022.2116329 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/100660
MediĂ„, L. M., Fauske, L., Sigurdardottir, S., Feragen, K. J. B., Heggeli, C., & WĂŠhre, A. (2022). âIt was Supposed to be a Secretâ: a study of disclosure and stigma as experienced by adults with differences of sex development. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 10(1), 579â595. https://doi.org/10.1080/21642850.2022.2102018
Jessen RS, WÊhre A, David L, StÀnicke E (2021). Negotiating Gender in Everyday Life: Toward a Conceptual Model of Gender Dysphoria in Adolescents. Arch Sex Behav. 2021 Nov;50(8):3489-3503. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02024-6.
WĂŠhre, Anne (2021). Medisinsk perspektiv pĂ„ behandling av medfĂždt variasjon i kroppslig kjĂžnnsutvikling og kjĂžnnsinkongruens hos barn og unge [Medical perspective on the treatment of congenital variation in physical gender development and gender incongruence in children and adolescents]. In Hellum, Anne & SĂžrlie, Anniken (Ed.), Frihet, likhet og mangfold: KjĂžnnsidentitet og seksuell orientering i rettslig, medisinsk og samfunnsvitenskapelig kontekst [Freedom, equality and diversity: Gender identity and sexual orientation in legal, medical and social scientific contexts.]. Gyldendal Akademisk. ISSN 9788205518698. p. 200â224.
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Daae, E., Feragen, K. B., Waehre, A., Nermoen, I., & Falhammar, H. (2020). Sexual Orientation in Individuals With Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia: A Systematic Review. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2020.00038
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Emily Yoffe is an American author and anti-transgender activist. Yoffe’s anti-trans coverage in The Free Press was rewarded by the Trump administration, which gave Yoffe the exclusive on their January 2025 executive order “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”
Background
Emily Joy Yoffe was born October 15, 1955. Yoffe graduated from Wellesley College in 1977.
In 1994 Yoffe married reporter John Douglas Mintz (born 1952). Their child Eliora Rose Mintz (born 1995) is a lawyer.
Yoffe wrote the “Dear Prudence” advice column for Slate from 2006 to 2015.
Anti-transgender activism
In 2020, Yoffe signed the “Harper’s Letter,” which featured many other anti-trans activists in Yoffe’s circle.
Yoffe contributed to the anti-trans publication The Free Press in 2022 and joined the staff later that year.
Jamie Reed allegations
In 2023, Jamie Reed came forward to complain about treatment protocols at employer Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Childrenâs Hospital. Republican Ernie Trakas joined Vernadette Broyles in representing Reed. Both are involved in the Child and Parental Rights Campaign, which claims “gender ideology” is a threat to children.
Yoffe interviewed Reed with Broyles and Bari Weiss.
“Caroline” allegations
Also in 2023, Yoffe followed up with a self-report from “Caroline,” an unsupportive parent of “Casey,” who attended the St. Louis Clinic. “Casey”disputed Yoffe’s reporting, feeling it was necessary to do so under the actual name Alex:
My name is Alex. Emily Yoffe and Bari Weiss worked in cooperation with my mom to write an article about our experience with Washington University. The article is filled with falsehoods and misconceptions. Now, my family is being threatened with legal action from big-time lawyers and we need help paying for legal defense. More at https://twitter.com/sleepyoktobur/status/1643347040250781706?s=46
The leading transgender health organization promotes life-altering interventions on minors — some that leave young people sterile. @LisaSelinDavis has the story. https://t.co/1iQc8RG6eQ
In May 2024, Texas surgeon Eithan Haim was charged with illegally obtaining the private medical records of pediatric patients receiving gender transition care at Texas Childrenâs Hospital and sharing them with anti-trans activist Christopher Rufo. Yoffe presented Haim as a heroic truth-teller in several Free Press articles. In 2025, the Trump administration dropped the charges against Haim.
The Femsplainers with Danielle Crittenden and Emily Yoffe (Augist 1, 2020). “Use Your Words! Wait, No Cancel That…” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IrbKc5UDwU
Helena Elise Kerschner was born July 24, 1998 in northern Kentucky and grew up in the Cincinnati area. Kerschner’s parent Magdalena E Kerschner (born 1960) is a physician who ran a pain clinic. Kerschner’s parent William P. “Will” Kerschner (born 1959) was an executive at a large consumer goods company. Both are retired.
Kerschner had a childhood of immense privilege and was involved in figure skating and other expensive hobbies like horse riding. As a teen, Kerschner was a compulsive Tumblr user:
[…] By the time I was thirteen, I was isolating myself, self-harming, and had developed an eating disorder. In eighth grade, I lost touch with most of my school friends, and was too self-conscious and preoccupied with my eating disorder to put myself out there again. I started skipping school, spending lunch in the bathroom, and in general just keeping my head down, trying to get through the day unnoticed.
[…] When I was fifteen, I was introduced to gender ideology on Tumblr and began to call myself nonbinary. Over the next few years, I would continue to go deeper and deeper down the trans identity rabbit hole, and by the time I was eighteen, I saw myself as a âtrans manâ, otherwise known as âFtMâ. Shortly after my eighteenth birthday, I made an appointment at a Planned Parenthood to begin a testosterone regimen. At my first appointment, I was prescribed testosterone, and I would remain on this regimen for a year and a half. It had an extremely negative effect on my mental health, and I finally admitted what a disaster it had been when I was 19, sometime around February or March 2018.
[…] Between sharing photos, drawings, and fanfiction, these girls were posting about their lives and going into deep detail about their struggles. Many were social outcasts like me, also struggling with things like self-harm and eating disorders. Finding a community of such like minded people felt amazing, and I quickly began spending nearly every waking moment on Tumblr or messaging some friend I had met on there. If I had any remaining motivation to integrate myself into real life, I lost that here.
Kershner became sexually attracted to and obsessed with boyish pop culture figures like Elvis and Justin Bieber. Kershner eventually wanted to embody them. This erotic interest in masculinization was not well documented prior to LiveJournal, Tumblr, the “shipping” phenomenon, and anime fandoms frequented by fujoshi {“rotten girl”) obsessives.
Kerschner met Hinty via tumblr, and they eventually lived together. Kerschner started hormones as an adult on August 15, 2016. According to an interview with Daily Wire, Kerschner’s new name was Vincent Lucas “Vin” Jaszczak. Jaszczak was a family name.
While most people who make additional changes in gender identity or expression remain supportive of the process, some choose to get money and attention by joining the ex-trans movement. According to friends, Kerschner was drawn into alt-right ideologies via toxic online communities including now-banned subreddits like r/The_Donald and r/GenderCritical.
I finally bit the bullet and looked into radical feminism. This happened because during a suicidal mental break down, I went to the only community online that I had found supported detransitioned people (the trans community often demonizes and erases us), which was r/GenderCritical on Reddit. I was met with an overflow of love and support, and they showed me that radfems are not the monsters the trans tumblr community makes us out to be. Though their politics were extremely shocking to me, someone who spent the last 5 years intensely believing in genderist ideology, after a while things started making sense and I realized just how horrible trans ideology is, and how it nearly destroyed my life.
With the help of radical feminism, which has taught me an immense level of self respect, I am slowly crawling out of rock bottom.
Kerschner soon became fixated on alt-right figures like Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson in ways that mirror previous fascinations with Elvis and Justin Bieber.
Kerschner testified in support of Ohio legislation HB 454, the “Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE)” Act. Kerschner also works extensively behind the scenes with Denise Caignon, owner of anti-trans site 4thWaveNow.
Kerschner announced a step back from ex-trans activism in February 2023.
Coverage in anti-trans media
Doak, Emile (Sep 9, 2024). Resist the Cult. [review of Detrans: True Stories of Escaping the Gender Ideology Cult, by Mary Margaret Olohan, Regnery]. The American Conservative https://www.theamericanconservative.com/resist-the-cult/
“a few disclaimers just cause ill talk about this stuff and i dont want u to see me talk about it and not know whats going on: 1. i have experience with abuse but dont talk to me about it unless ur also an abuse survivor 2. im pretty mentally ill so sorry if i cry a lot but you can talk to me about it idc jus⊠beware my screaming”
Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.
Chiara Caignon-Lewis is an American “ex-transgender” activist and a founder of ex-trans website Pique Resilience Project. Anti-trans activism is a family business: Chiara’s parent Denise Caignon is also heavily involved in anti-transgender extremism as owner of the website 4thWaveNow.
Aliases include:
“Chiara Canaan”
“Rachel Miller”
Caignon-Lewis claims the transgender rights movement is “nothing more than misogyny disguised as progressive feminism.”
Background
Chiara Lucia Marie Caignon-Lewis was born August 21, 1997 in Santa Cruz, California to Denise Caignon and Tim Lewis. Caignon-Lewis stated, “I was dysphoric because my father sexually abused me as a child” and because of “my internalized homophobia.”
Denise and Chiara Caignon-Lewis moved to North Carolina. In 2013, at age 16, Caignon-Lewis became an ordained youth minister, then came out as transgender shortly after turning 17. Caignon-Lewis had already come out as lesbian and was dating as one, but an incident at school resulted in few friends in real life. Caignon-Lewis turned to online communities, claiming that popular trans users on Tumblr and YouTube led to a multi-year obsession with transition:
Had I not been exposed to the cultish mindset of Tumblrâs transactivists at a vulnerable phase of my life, I would not have become absorbed by a desire to permanently change my body.
Caignon-Lewis’ coming out involved texting a link to a gender clinic with no other details. Being forbidden to take medical transition steps caused Caignon-Lewis to have many family fights. At the height of the fighting, Denise Caignon got heavily involved with posting anti-transgender materials online at 4thWaveNow and elsewhere.
In 2015, Caignon-Lewis graduated from Chapel Hill High School and was sent to a Florida horse farm for nine months. Caignon-Lewis says the desire to transition subsided after that without taking any legal or medical steps. Denise and Chiara have since teamed up to be the most high-profile family in the modern ex-trans movement.
Caignon-Lewis sometimes performs music locally and has had a string of service jobs in the Triangle area, including at insightsoftware, bartaco, Orangetheory Fitness, Stoney River Steakhouse, Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, and Hawthorne & Wood.
Caignon-Lewis has been riding horses since age two, got a Selle Français cross mare named Tupelo Honey in 2011, and has been involved in competitive jumping and dressage with Honey in North Carolina and at FenRidge Farm in Florida. A self-described “huge horse nerd,” Caignon-Lewis was active on several online platforms, posting about horses and dressage in addition to identity issues (most of which was deleted). Since 2016, Caignon-Lewis has operated a part-time business called Novation Sporthorse, offering training, lessons, and marketing of sales horses.
Caignon-Lewis and three other ex-trans activists created the Pique Resilience Project in 2019 and disbanded in 2020, allegedly because two of the members stopped dating each other.
Canaan, Chiara (2018). [response to Economist piece] https://chiaracanaan.tumblr.com/post/177791904093/why-are-so-many-teenage-girls-appearing-in-gender: “I was interviewed for this magazine recently (Iâm âRachelâ), and have been pleasantly surprised at the positive response so far. I was dysphoric because my father sexually abused me as a child until I learned to associate womanhood with fear and shame, and I was dysphoric because I am a lesbian, but my internalized homophobia jumped at the option of being a straight man instead. Had I not been exposed to the cultish mindset of Tumblrâs transactivists at a vulnerable phase of my life, I would not have become absorbed by a desire to permanently change my body.”
Buddhist Peace Fellowship (1997). Turning Wheel. “Born on August 21, to TW associate editor Denise Caignon and her husband Tim Lewis: Chiara Lucia (Clear Light!)”
Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.
Denise Caignon is an American author and anti-transgender extremist.
Caignon founded anti-transgender site 4thWaveNow in 2015 and has appeared in the media under a number of aliases, including:
“Marie Verite”
“Denise Canaan”
“Janette Miller”
Caignon’s site became one of the most prominent transphobic platforms, surviving a purge of similar anti-trans sites that violated hosts’ terms of service. Caignon is a key developer of the controversial “rapid onset gender dysphoria” diagnosis. Caignon’s child Chiara Caignon-Lewis is a prominent member of the “ex-trans” wing of anti-trans activists.
Background
Denise Jeanette Caignon was born in 1955 to a family that moved frequently. After graduating from Louisville Collegiate School in 1973, Caignon soon moved to California and began getting involved in second-wave feminism.
Self-defense and “take back the night” initiatives were an important focus of second-wave feminism starting in the 1970s. The belief was that direct confrontation can exert community control over rapists’ behavior. In 1972, not long before Caignon’s arrival, Santa Cruz Women Against Rape (SCWAR) was founded as an âalternative anti-Rape organization in which women support women.â The non-hierarchical collective had many lesbian members and offered a 24-hour rape hotline and free self-defense workshops. They also maintained a published list profiling alleged male rapists, assaulters, and harassers. They were later sued by someone on the list.
One of the women involved with the SCWAR hotline was queer activist Gail Groves. During six years working on the rape hotline, Groves realized that many stereotypes about sexual assault were inaccurate. Caignon and Groves studied judo together, and they soon founded Santa Cruz Women’s Self-Defense Teaching Cooperative. They also founded Women Who Resist: The Success Story Project to catalog strategies for preventing and surviving a sexual assault. In 1987, they published these first-hand reports as Her Wits About Her: Self-Defense Success Stories by Women. They taught a class that role-played real situations, recommending that students prepare for common issues like attack cues and verbal abuse from attackers.
Caignon has helped produce other publications and served as an editor of the Buddhist publication Turning Wheel for many years, guest editing three issues: intentional communities, engaged lives, and fundamentalism. Caignon ended that work in 1999 to spend more time with spouse Tim Lewis and their child Chiara.
After living in California for 27 years, Caignon moved to North Carolina and studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to be a speech-language pathologist. In keeping with a longstanding interest in intentional communities, Caignon has a residence in a cohousing community in Carrboro. Caignon earned a master’s degree in 2007 and practiced in the area until retiring in 2014. Caignon’s focus was on aphasia related to strokes. Caignon helped develop Life Interest and Value (LIV) Cards, a way for people with speech loss to improve communication.
Chiara Caignon-Lewis
Caignon’s only child Chiara Caignon-Lewis was born in 1997. As an adolescent, Chiara was heavily active on Tumblr, and at one point alleged on the platform to have experienced sexual abuse as a child by Chiara’s seminal parent. These allegations align with the date of Denise Caignon’s sudden move to North Carolina after 27 years in California.
Because Denise Caignon’s entire life, career, and identity were built around preventing sexual assault, these allegations must have been completely devastating. If true, Denise Caignon failed to prevent the sexual assault that was the most deeply personal. Denise Caignon’s guilt and rage needed an outlet, and Chiara soon provided one.
Chiara began identifying as transgender online in 2013, at age 16. Chiara had already come out as queer and had started dating, but an incident at school had left Chiara with few friends in real life. Chiara turned to online communities, claiming that popular trans users on Tumblr and YouTube caused a multi-year obsession with transition.
At age 17, Chiara came out to Denise via a texted link to a gender clinic. Denise refused to let Chiara take medical transition steps, which led to a lot of fighting. At the height of the fighting, Denise got heavily involved with posting anti-transgender materials online and attending trans-exclusionary events. In an interview with Chiara, Denise said:
“I was fortunate to be able to meet two detransitioners Iâd discovered online in person when I attended the Michigan Womenâs Music Festival in 2015.”
In 2015, Denise sent Chiara to a Florida horse farm for nine months, after which Chiara claims the desire to transition subsided without taking any legal or medical steps. Denise and Chiara then teamed up to be one of the most high-profile famiies in the modern ex-trans movement.
Unlike the second-wave feminism of Caignon’s youth, third-wave feminism is largely trans-inclusive. Caignon’s site name 4thWaveNow is a call to replace that third-wave feminism with a transphobic fourth wave.
Haley KL, Womack JL, Helm-Estabrooks N, Caignon D, McCulloch KL (2010). The Life Interest and Values Cards. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Department of Allied Health Sciences.
McIntyre, Carl (2010) Aphasia. Bonus materials: Interview with Denise Caignon, MS, CCC-SLP, Carl’s Speech Pathologist
Haley K, Helm-Estabrooks N, Caignon D, Womack J, McCulloch K (2009). Self-determination and life activity goals for people with aphasia. Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, New Orleans, LA
Haley KL, Helm-Estabrooks N, Womack J, Caignon D, McCracken E (2007). A pictorial, binary-sorting system allowing âself-determination despite aphasia. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Boston, MA.
Moon, Susan (2004). Not Turning Away: The Practice of Engaged Buddhism. Shambhala Publications ISBN 9781590301036
Helena Norberg-Hodge, âPeter Goering, âJohn Page (2001). From the Ground Up: Rethinking Industrial Agriculture. [Caignon handled production and layout] Zed Books ISBN 978-1856492232
Caignon, Denise, consulting ed. (1999). Turning Wheel: Journal of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship
Groves, Gail (1995). “And He Turned Around and Ran Away.” in Patricia Searles, Ronald J. Berger (eds) Rape and Society: Readings on the Problem of Sexual Assault. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429493201
Levoy, Gregg (November 6, 1990). Teaching women to fight back. Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/wellness/1990/11/06/teaching-women-to-fight-back/605287cd-e0cf-4672-b3a3-642e3f0074b4/
